Europe has been plagued by wars, hunger and poverty for centuries. Millions of Europeans emigrated due to economic and social misery. They sailed to North and South America, to Australia, to escape poverty and seek a better life for themselves and their children. In the language of today's immigration and refugee debate, these were "economic migrants". In the 20th century, the main causes of migration were racial persecution, political oppression and the devastation of two world wars.
Today, the European Union is one of the richest regions in the world. For decades, the vast majority of Europeans lived in peaceful democratic states that respected basic human rights. European poverty and European migration have been forgotten (although not completely). Many Europeans feel threatened again, not by Russia, which aggressively pressures its neighbors, but by refugees and immigrants - the poorest of the poor. While this summer hundreds of people drowned from boats in the Mediterranean Sea, almost in all parts of Europe - 26 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain - calls for isolation, mass deportations and the building of new walls and fences were heard. Across Europe, xenophobia and undisguised racism are rampant, and nationalist parties, especially those on the extreme right, are gaining strength.
But this is only the beginning of the crisis, as the conditions that make people leave their homelands will surely worsen. And it seems that Europe, many of whose members have the best organized social protection systems in the world, cannot bear that, neither politically, nor morally, nor administratively. This paralysis is risky for Europe itself. Everyone knows that individual member states - especially Italy and Greece, which are the hardest hit - cannot meet the long-term challenges of migration on their own. But most members refuse to join the common European effort, which accelerates the erosion of solidarity within the EU and reinforces the trend of its disintegration.
There are three causes of today's migration to Europe: prolonged economic uncertainty in the Western Balkans, turmoil in the wider Middle East, and civil wars and conflicts in Africa. The intensification or expansion of the war in eastern Ukraine would soon become the fourth cause. In other words, the migrations that Europe is facing today have their causes in the deep crises that are shaking its neighborhood. And she can't help much in solving them. It is clear that it must strengthen its foreign and security policy, as well as its policy towards its closest neighbors, in order to more successfully address the causes of migration at the very source. The member states do not support such a reform and, what's worse, refrain from acting, certainly also because of the legal vacuum currently being filled by xenophobic populists.
Thus, Europe cannot have a greater influence on the wars and conflicts that ravage Africa and the Middle East (although it could better use and develop the little influence it has). The Western Balkans is a different story. Croatia is already a member of the EU, Montenegro and Serbia have started membership negotiations, Albania and Macedonia are candidates, and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates. Europe has a big influence there. Why she did not become more involved in the Western Balkans - a region in which she could do a lot by supporting economic and administrative modernization and infrastructure projects that would connect the region with the industrial centers of the Union - remains a secret for the European Commission and member states. The absurd consequence of this is that the citizens of the region are exposed to asylum procedures, because there is no possibility of their legal immigration.
A special case is the Roma, a large minority in the Western Balkans, who often face severe discrimination. It is a pan-European problem. Roma suffered disproportionately after the fall of communism in 1989, doing unskilled industrial jobs that were the first to be abolished. Many of them were then pushed into severe poverty. The continuation of discrimination against the Roma is a scandal for the whole of Europe, which should be addressed by the EU, its member states and candidates.
This summer's refugee crisis shines a light on another - much bigger - structural problem in Europe: demography. Europe's population is aging, shrinking and the continent urgently needs immigration. However, many in Europe oppose it, fearing social changes. In the long run, European politicians should explain to the citizens the unsustainability of economic prosperity with a high level of social security, in a population where economically active people are burdened with supporting pensioners. The European labor force must grow, and that is why Europeans should not see immigrants as a threat, but as a favorable opportunity.
(Social Europe; Peščanik.net; translated by: S. MILETIĆ)
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